I decided to participate in Naked Day today. No, it has nothing to do with me — it is all about web design standards. Here is a bit more information about going naked on April 5.

Occasionally I find things that I think must surely be practical jokes. If they were jokes, most would be pretty funny. The things listed below are not jokes, though in some cases are still rather funny. Sad, but funny.

• I hope this DVD Bible does not signal the beginning of the end of the printed Bible. And just after I bought a new one…

• Move over Monopoly, Joel is in town!

• We can learn so much from the pagans
“This has remained Yong’s pressing question: Is it possible that the Holy Spirit is active not only among Christians of all denominations but also among believers of non-Christian world religions?”

• Church membership expands to include athiests?

• NEW (added after original post): Rick Warren believes you can be saved without knowing Christ? Now this is scary stuff.

I read a post today at Challies.com that disturbed me. In fact, it bothered me so much that I did not finish reading it the first time — I had to come back to it a bit later. Below I provide the quote that Tim included in the post. It is from a book by John Piper titled God is the Gospel, which is a book that I now see I must read.

The critical question for our generation–and for every generation–is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever say, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

It disturbed me because of the tendency of my initial answer, and what that means about my commitment and life. I cannot say much more that Tim does not already say. You can read his entire post here.

Time passes so quickly. Childhood disappears. It happens earlier for some than for others, but it seems that it eventually ends for everyone. Tickle fights will lose their enjoyment. Coloring will become boring. Firecrackers will become annoying. Hikes will become more about the destination than the walk in the woods. Silly faces at dinner will be embarrassing instead of laugh-out-loud funny. Friends become a “boy” or a “girl” instead of a “friend.” Life becomes a series of things to endure or complete instead of a mystery, an adventure, a circus.

Does my father look back 30 years and wish he had done anything differently? Does he wish now that he could have wrestled just one more time? Thrown one more ball? Caught one more fish? Chased one more pirate or shot one more indian?

Will I look back in 30 years and wish I had done anything differently? I already look back three years with that wish. But right now the next 27 are a clean slate. Tomorrow is a clean slate. Tonight is yet a clean slate. I have my chalk — now get out of my way.

“I don’t know about that. You see, Aslan didn’t tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he’s up, I shouldn’t wonder. But that doesn’t let us off following the sign.”

Puddleglum, replying to Eustace Scrubb’s question about whether everything will turn out right if they follow Aslan’s fourth sign and untie the crazed prince (The Silver Chair, p175)

Tonight I took the kids out to pick up a few things for Tami for tomorrow. In an effort to make it extra-fun for the kids, we got some ice cream on the way. And as if that was not enough, they got a bite of chocolate at See’s as well.

So when we got home, Timothy told Mommy about his treats. “We got ice cream, and we got …” I was behind Tami waving my arms and shaking my head “no!” as he plowed into the second half of his statement: “… some chocolate!”

Then he saw me, and his eyes suddenly got big. He paused, thinking, and looked back at Tami and said “No, just I got some chocolate. Just don’t look in the closet, because we didn’t get you any chocolate.”

I suppose I should be thankful that he is so terrible at “bending the truth” a bit.

If it is not bad enough that the green Left pursues the myth of global warming, now a list of “evangelicals” is jumping on the bandwagon under the guise of loving neighbors and to being stewards of God’s creation. If there was any question as to the legitimacy of global warming concerns, this should provide the final nail in this coffin.

These people disgust me — every venue becomes an opportunity to bash Bush.

The issue of Christians attempting to “right the wrongs” of society is an interesting discussion topic. James Spurgeon expounds on the proper role of Christians in society at TeamPyro. There is no surprise when a fish swims or a bird flies. That being said, I still sent GoDaddy an email regarding the smut they called a commercial during the Super Bowl.

And I cannot express my relief over the fact that Islam is a religion of peace! Can you even begin to imagine the outrage and violence that would occur over these silly cartoons if these guys were militant and violent?

Finally, thank God yet again for the incredible, unspeakable, un-knowable grace He has extended to those of us who have trusted Christ. And thank you Sojourner for the reminder.

Lindsey lost her second tooth yesterday at school. Boy, was she excited! They gave her this little plastic tooth case keychain to hold the tooth until she got home. And as she went to bed last night, she placed the tooth under her pillow, just as she did with her first tooth, with visions of a stack of quarters in its place in the morning.

And the tooth fairy did not come. Granted, it took us about five minutes to find the tooth this morning. The search was accompanied by comments from Lindsey such as “maybe she just took it and didn’t leave anything.” I did my best to assure her that it was probably just a busy time of year, or maybe she had trouble finding it (look how hard we had to look!). She seems okay with trying again tonight.

Who said being a parent was easy?

I am a few days behind on this one, but I have heard some talk recently about the new movie “The End of the Spear,” which relates the story of Nate Saint and his attempt to bring the Gospel to a (then) vicious tribe in Ecuador. What was astounding news to me was the fact that the Chad Allen was chosen as the actor to portray Saint. If you are not already aware, Chad Allen declared in October 2001 that he was gay, and apparently supports organizations such as Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and AIDS Project Arizona, and also provides advice and assistance on his web site for children struggling with their sexuality.

I will not hesitate to admit that I enjoy movies. I own National Treasure, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Gladiator among others. I recently watched the Island and will purchase it in the near future. I daresay that many of the major actors in these movies have serious moral issues. The most notable fom the movies listed above is probably Ian McKellen (Gandalf in Lord of the Rings), who is a homosexual. In one of Timothy’s current favorites, Finding Nemo, the lovable air-headed Dory in Finding Nemo is given life by the voice of Ellen Degeneres, another prominent homosexual.

Perhaps another post will address our directive to fulfill the cultural mandate, and talents, and entertainment in modern society. But for now, I will simply provide a few links of interest on the topic of casting a devout homosexual in a “Christian” film:

From Phillip Johnson:

It disturbs me that even while they are ratcheting up their ongoing campaign against everything righteous, Hollywood moguls want to exploit evangelicals. It disturbs me even more that so many evangelicals seem blithely willing—almost eager, in fact—to be exploited.

From Sharper Iron:

I have no great visions that we will ever transform this decadent society. However, I am not a pessimist who simply thinks the world is already going to hell in a hand basket and thus will sit and watch it burn. I care about people. I care about my kids. I care about my church. I care about the Gospel. I care about upholding the Word of God. Therefore, I cannot sit by and watch the evangelical left take one more bite out of Christian conviction.

And finally, from Tribalog:

Question: Can someone affirm both of these statements at the same time?
1) Homosexuality is an abomination to God
2) Homosexual [actors] are acceptable in Christian films